Brothers 'admitted Damilola killing'

Two brothers accused of murdering Damilola Taylor laughed as they admitted the killing to a prison officer, the Old Bailey heard today.

The two youths, then 14, had just arrived at the Feltham Young Offender Institution on remand on charges of burglary and intimidating witnesses and were only charged with murdering the 10-year-old months later.

Prison Officer Darren De'Ath told how he was holding an induction meeting in February last year with eight inmates, including the brothers, discussing how they would deal with their sentences, when the case came up.

"I asked if any of the boys were expecting a fairly long sentence," said Mr De'Ath. " One of the brothers answered. He said 'yes - possibly murder' then laughed.

"One of the other boys said 'who did you murder?' and the other brother, sat next to him, said 'Damilola Taylor - but we didn't kill him. We only stabbed him in the legs. It wasn't our fault he died'."

A row then broke out between the boys and another prison officer and as he feared violence the meeting was brought to an end.

Mr De'Ath said: "After the meeting I kept the two brothers back and asked them if they admitted they had killed Damilola Taylor. Both of them laughed and they just said 'hypothetically speaking and we are not telling you any more because you are only interested in the £50,000 reward'."

He immediately reported the incident to his superiors.

Courtenay Griffiths, representing one of the brothers, asked Mr De'Ath: "Have you encountered a survival technique where boys 'big up' themselves, make out they are hard, in order to survive bullying?"

Mr De'Ath said: "Some do, yes." He told the Old Bailey that for the boys to admit a high-profile offence, such as Damilola's murder, would be more likely to provoke bullying-than stop it. He denied knowing the boys had made their admission "tongue in cheek" as a joke but was then handed his own police statement.

In that statement he said: "My own view was that it was said somewhat tongue in cheek in an immature way to provoke a reaction from the other youths."

Damilola bled to death in a stairwell on the North Peckham Estate in November 2000 after being stabbed in the thigh with a broken bottle.

The two brothers, now 16, and a 15-year-old deny murder, manslaughter and assault with intent to rob. They cannot be named for legal reasons.